The specil election, which was organized after Republican Rep. Mark Green resigned this summer, saw an unexpected surge of spending in recent weeks, flooding the airwaves and filling residents' mailboxes with campaign flyers.
Matt Van Epps, the Republican candidate, has been backed by more than $1 million from MAGA Inc. It's the first time the Trump-supporting super PAC has spent money on a campaign since last year's presidential race, a reflection of this contest's outsize importance. House Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP chair Joe Gruters rallied supporters in Tennessee on Monday. Trump addressed the crowd by phone and later held a tele-rally for Van Epps, his second of the general election.
Van Epps Democrat opponet is state Rep. Aftyn Behn. She has come under fire for past statements which have included that she hates Nashville and has called for defunding police. Former Vice President Kamala Harris participated in a canvassing kickoff while in Nashville on a book tour. And former Vice President Al Gore, a Tennessee native, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez headlined a virtual rally on the election's eve.
The 7th District is one of three seats redrawn in 2022 to erode the influence of Nashville, the state’s largest city and a Democratic stronghold. Only about 1 in 5 of its registered voters are in Nashville, and last year it went to Green by 21 percentage points and to Trump by a similar margin.
Democrats say closing the gap would signal that their party has momentum going into next year. Republicans remain confident that they can defend the seat, and they hope to dismiss Democratic claims that even red districts are now in play as Trump struggles with low approval ratings.
However there are concerns about turnout due to the timing, as early voting went into Thanksgiving week with Election Day the following Tuesday.
Trump held a virtual rally in November with Van Epps, a former state general services commissioner from Nashville who previously served as an Army helicopter pilot, to boost his candidacy.
